


tN,' ^ « H c 



a\ 



o V 










,^ 



0' 



,% ^. 



'^■^ ^ov^ -^^0^^ '■ ^ ■ ^ \\ '^^o^' 

V """ .f"^ ... V "^ .\^ ... .^-^^ '"° .f° ,.„ V '" .<" 



^- <tp c^ ».^>^-^l:, 



•>^ 



4 o. 













Oy' , o « O \,^ 






K^' 



•,^ 






v'' s* •-• '* '^^ ^.0 ^ ' * "' > 



V 



^^ 






A 









r '^■:. 













-> 






V 



O, * o « 



^^-^^^ 



•0^ 



x^-ni 



*■ -^"-^ 



^o^ 



C 



0-^ .«V 












\/)Mi, 






.^^ 



- '^X. A^ 



A 



V V- 



o > 



r^ -/'",'■ G^ <^ 'o . . " .A. 



,0 



o 









"oV" 






-oV« 




Q > 



?s'l"^' 



^0^ 









,-N- 



<". 






^"-n^. 



^"•^c^. 






,H q 



>, 






y 









bv 



^"^ - -^ C 






%, 




^""V. 



,Ho^ 



.f 



0' 




c , 






■ ■^^^ 










^"■'.i-. 







<". 







,H q 



: "--..^'■* .-^l^":. ■'--„.^* ::fife\ "-^..s^^- -• 



V"^' 



V9 










o 



o > 



r-n^. 



.^q 



•<<^ 






V\ 



^*^ :'^M% ^c/" :'^&: ^^-^^y :'M^, '''*-„.^**' . 



'<^\' 



\\ o 



^0^ 
4 o^ 




^^•^t. ^« 



Ao^ 



o > 



.Hq 



<?>- 









x^'-V. 



'bV 
.o 



V 



-^^0^ 




FEATHEa KiV£R, CONNECTING LINK OF YUBA-SUTTER COUNTIES 




o 

W) 



'So 



CALIFORNIA 

YUBA-SUTTER 
COUNTIES 



SOIL-WATER 
C LI MATE 

HEALTH and 

PROSPERITY 




191 y 



f(l9l? 



y^uArO^ L<9.y 1-^ 



THE YUBA-SUTTER BOOKLET IS PUBLISHED AND APPROVED BY THE 
BOARDS OF SUPERVISORS OF YUBA-SUTTER COUNTIES, CALIFORNIA 

ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO THE CLERK OF EITHER BOARD. 
MARYSVILLE OR YUBA CITY. CALIFORNIA 



■be. 




YgYs 









X 



1 







p§ wo 



'~i m H 




riioto hy McCurry Foto Co. 

Home life of ease and comfort iii ideal surroundings in Sutter County 




YUBA-SUTTER COUNTIES 

CALIFORNIA 

A UNIT IN RICHNESS 

ACTS, results, proof — it is with these that Yuba-Sutter counties, 
together forming a region of unsurpassed richness and possibili- 
ties, give to the man looking westward this advice: "Come here; 
you will find wliat you are seeking." 

For these counties combine with their richness a versatility and 

a scope for the specialist that make them an epitome of the brightest phases 

of agricultural and horticultural California. And more settlers are needed. 

The story told here is not of diffused optimistic glow, but of optimism 

based definitely on crops and conditions. 

The region is exceptionally ricli : it is fast being raised to new levels of 
development. The day of the snudl farmer is come. Swift as is the develop- 
ment of both counties, there is still room aplenty for liim here. 
To the main facts firsl. 

These counties have the soil for success^and it all has been proven: soil 
alluvial and in plains, foothills and on higher slopes, each with its special 
adaptabilities and attractions. Moreover, land prices are still low. 

Then the climate: California at its best gives the idea under that head. 
Water for irrigation : plenty of it, underground for the pumper, in water- 
ways for the ditch irrigator. Streams and rivers cross and hem in the entire 
district. There is, besides, adecpiate drainage. 

Those are the things that grow crops. To market them there are steam 




A few of the beautiful Sutter County homes, evidence of agricultural prosperity 

6 






mmm 


fm:^^ 


T-f.- 




f^^^ 


:.':?.? 

'^■M 




-' . J'Hi^o^;^' ■■'''' 











Photo by McCiirry Foto Co. 

Throughout Yuba County are found attractive, comfortable homes like these 




hy McCurry Foto Co. 

One of the beautifiil palm-shaded streets for which Yuba City, Sutter County, is noted 

8 



and elect rie lines serving every neiglil)orhood in each county, besides a 
thorough-going system of river transportation. There are big markets at 
hand in the counties' canneries and fruit-drying [)hiiits and creameries. There 
are tlie nuirkets of the West, and, brought n<'ai- by the now open I'anjiiiia 
Canal, those of the workl as well. Don't forget tiu; canal, with its ships that 
load at wharves reached by boats and cars easily accessible to Yuba ami 
Sutter shippers. The completion of liic Paiiaina waterway means so mucli to 
California that California celebrates with the biggest world's fail- on 
record — San Francisco's Panama-Pacific International Exi)ositioii. 

Not only do the growers of this region reach the big markets easily, but 
early as well. Kariiuess of ripening is one of the ])rim(' advantages here. 
Peaches, apricots, oranges, grapes, vegetables — these and many more crops 
are ready from two weeks to two months ahead of the production of com- 
petitive regions. And in many instances they bring ])rices well above the 
California average, not only for earliness but simply because of their quality. 

It is in a measure significant of the richness of these counties that some 
of the chief varieties of fruits have originated here, including the famous 
Phillips cling i)each and the Thompson Seedless raisin gi-ape. 

One asset of no small monu-nt is the possibility of what has of late become 
known as two-story farming — ground crops growing under productive trees. 
They have done that for years in Sutter and Yuba. (3i'chardists and vine- 
yardists often pay most or all of their expenses in develoi)ing their trees or 
vines by tilling the ground between the rows, growing berries, melons, vege- 
tables and other products. The grain men, too, find it pays to ])lant potatoes 
or similar crops after harvest. Double crops mean double i)rofits, and while 
the process needs the best of conditions, the best is found here. 

There is always a harvest time in this region. The orchards alone pro- 
vide that, and it means not only benefits for the individual grower, but the 
maintenance of a high stage of prosperity for the entire community through- 
out the year. 

The spring fruits of the counties are strawberries, raspberries, black- 
berries and cherries. These are marketed in April, May and June. 

Early summer fruits are apricots, plums, peaches and pears. The first 
peaches are ready by the last of May. Apricots and the earlier varieties of 
plums ripen about the same time. From then until October there is no 
cessation in the marketing of the fruit. 

The winter fruits are oranges, lemons and olives, ri])ening in November, 
December and January. 

Then there are the hops, in midsummer; the grapes and raisins a little 
later; the alfalfa, cut five or six times a year; the rice, the beets and other 
vegetables in their seasons. 

Twelve months in the year do the dairies bring in their profits. This is 
a famous dairy district. It has many ranches which yield alfalfa as heavily — 
and of as good (pmlity — Avithout ii'rigation as most Califoi-nia ranchers get 
with irrigation. 

Nor is it possible to overlook the grain fields, the sheep and cattle ranches, 
or, by way of variety, the gold fields, in addition to the industrial wealth of 
the towns. 

A region with all these resources could hardly escape being what Yuba- 
Sutter counties are — examples of American fai-ming communities raised to 
the highest level. 

So manifold are their assets that were one to consider then, for the sake 
of argument, cut off from the rest of the world, the ]>rospect would have no 
terrors. Within themselves they have all that is needed — vegetable, mineral 
and animal. 




u' 



Stability is the architectural keynote of Yuba County's public buildings 



10 



They lie in the heart of the great Sacramento Valley. Yuba, east of 
Sutter, rises into the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Together tliey form a unit 
of varied and splendid richness. Sutter County is level except for the Sutter 
Buttes, a little cluster of peaks rising 2,500 feet from the plains. 

Sutter Couuty has an area of (ill s(|uare miles, being about thirty miles 
long and twenty miles wide. It is about half the si/e of Rhode Island. 
On the north lies Butte County; on the south, Sacramento County. 

Yuba County, a third the size of Delaware, has an area of 625 square 
miles— 400,000 acres. 

The waterways bounding and traversing these counties contribute to their 
wealth with irrigation water and transportation facilities. 

Yuba County's northwest boundary is lloncut Creek; the south, Bear 
River; the Avest, the Feather River. The Yuba River flows southwest through 
the county's heart. Sutter County has on the northeast the Bear; along the 
east, the Feather, and on the west the Sacramento rivers. 

IMarysville and Yuba City, the seats of Yuba-Sutter counties respec- 
tively, are close neighbors, lying a little more than a hundred miles, airline, 
northeast of San Francisco. The transportation distance to that city is about 
140 miles. Sacramento, capital of the State, is fifty-two miles south of 
IMarysville. 

These rich communities afford strong backing to the two counties. Marys- 
ville has a population exceeding 6,700 and occupies a commercial position of 
great importance, being located at the confluence of the Feather and Yuba 
rivers. Yuba City's population now exceeds 1,400. This town occupies a 
commanding position on the Feather River, affording a splendid opportunity 
of shipping the county's products to San Francisco by water. 

The population of these cities is increasing at a ratio of forty-seven per 
cent, for the present census period. 

The prospective settler, especially the Middle Western or Eastern man. 
who is interested in California is by now pretty w^ell disabused of miscon- 
ceptions regarding the State which only a few years ago were not uncommon. 
He looks for modernity, for progressive technical methods, for health and 
comfort on the ranches and farms of the continent's western edge. Those 
conditions prevail to an exceptionally high degree, even for California, in 
Yuba-Sutter counties. 

The object of this booklet, therefore, is to give specific, accurate informa- 
tion on the vital factors of production, forming a trustworthy, if brief, hand- 
book on the entire region treated, as well as an index to its wealth, develop- 
ment and promise. 

Object Lessons 

Concrete illustrations tell more than generalizations. Here are a few 
specific cases showing how various crops do in both of these counties. None 
is without equal : some are average, some better than that. All are worth 
reading. 

Take peaches first — they form one of the principal crops. 

F. W. Weiss has a medium-sized peach orchard at Encinal. He sold his 
Tuscan clings in 1914 at $30 a ton, and his yield averaged ten tons to the acre. 

L. N. Schumacher of Marysville secured $1,300 for seven and a half acres 
of Phillips clings. He does the thinning and pruning himself, leaving his 
actual expenses so low that they are practically paid by the few chickens 
he keeps in his orchard. 

Then prunes — they are a standard success. Near Encinal T. H. Stafford 
got $2,600 from six acres in 1914. This was at a six-cent base price. Thomas 
Holmes, who grows prunes six miles south of Yuba City, got $4,700 for ten 
acres of his fruit. 

11 




Photo by Met liny I'uto Co. 

Napoleon Square — one of the public parks of Marysville, Yuba County 



Another crop these counties are proud of is almonds. One rancher has 
fourteen acres of them, 108 trees to the acre. His expenses are $5 per acre, 
exclusive of gathering. For that he hires men at $1.50 per day. His best 
yield for one tree was ninety-six pounds. The 1911 market price on almonds 
was from fifteen to twenty-one cents a pound. His net profits per acre are 
from $150 upward, net. He does not irrigate and he has never had a 
failure. 

Pears — Bartletts are the most popular — are among the money-making 
crops. Ilayward Reed has seventy acres close to the Feather River, a few 
miles south of JMarysville. The annual production is fi-om 30,000 to 40,000 
boxes, of excellent quality. The orchard repeatedly has produced crops in 
one season that have sold for a gross price as much as the entire property 
was valued at. 

Thompson Seedless is the most important grape. They are dried for 
raisins, some being shipped fresh. The acreage in this variety tells the story 
of success. There are other varieties grown as well, however. E. B. Starr 
has fourteen acres of thii'ty-year-old Zinfandel vines near Yuba City. Since 
they first bore, twenty-seven years ago, these wine grapes have averaged 
seven tons to the acre each season. The maximinn yield has been fourteen 
tons to the Here, sold at $14 a ton. The highest price which Starr has had 
was $18 and the h)west $10. 

Grain was a famous product here not so long ago. It's still good. For 
instaiu-e, one farmer not far from Meridian gets fifty sacks of barley an 
acre from 320 jici-es. He sells it for about $1 a hundi'edweight and after 
he has harvested he sets out his land to potatoes, thus getting a double 
income. 

One of the fastest growing industries is dairying. That's because the 
alfalfa likes these counties. A. L. Wheeler is a bottom-land dairyman who 
milks twelve cows. Each brings in $14 a month. One of the herd is worth 

12 




E Street — one of the residence streets of Marysville, Yuba County 

$18 a month. While even this figure has been overtopped, it's pretty good — 
well above the average. The mean for the district, however, is more than 
the average : it is about $10.00 per month per cow. 

Besides the big things, there are plenty of others a long way from being 
negligible. Here is one: B. F, Gundry of Browns Valley clears $100 a year 
from one-quarter of an acre of loganberries. Land such as his can be bought 
for less than $50 an acre. 

And as for versatility, glance over the list of staples and specialties, from 
fruits and alfalfa to hops and rice. Nor is that all : for an exotic touch, 
experiments have proven alligator pears a practicable crop. Before long they 
may be figuring in the regular shipments. 



Climate 

Climate is probably a greater factor than any other in atti-acting settlers 
to California. It is well, then, to keep in mind this funchimental : climate in 
California varies not with latitude, but with altitude. Yuba-Sutter counlies, 
extending from the floor of the San Joaquin Valley into the Sierra Nevada 
Mountains, together form a region in which a great variety of climate is to 
be found, each gradation of temperature or precipitation luiviug its 
advantages. 

The characteristics of the chief farming regions, however, are stable and 
virtually imiform. The degree to which they nu'et the demands of the 
farmer is iudicated better by a review of crop conditions and returns than 
by strings of statistics from the weather bureau's rejiorts. 

The winters are mild and the summers give long growing seasons of dry 
warmth. The lack of humidity is a nuitter not only of convenience to the 
residents, but of practical value to the farmer, having its effect, especially- 
beneficial to fruit, in many ways. 

13 




>> 

OS 
t3 






Two seasons — the rainy and the dry — are the only natural divisions of the 
year here, as throu^li most of California. The rains begin about October 15 
and last to about the middle of April. 

Government tigures place the mean temperature in the valleys of both 
counties as ranging from sixty to sixty-eight degrees, and in the foothills 
from fifty-two to sixty degrees. 

Only a few days in the year will the temperature reach or exceed one 
hundred degrees, but even then the atmosphere is dry, relieving the heat of 
oppressiveness; the nights bring cool ])reezes. 

In fact, tile clinialc of tlie counties is mihb'i- than tliat of the Riviera. The 
following is a com])arison between the mean temperatures of IMarysville, with 
an altitude of sixty-seven feet, and those of Mentone, the renowned French 

health resort: 

Mean Mean Mean Mean Mean 

winter spring summer autumn yearly 

temp. temp. temp. temp. temj). 

Marysville .... 50.1 62.7 78.3 6.5.6 64.2 

Mentone 49.0 58.3 73.9 62.5 60.9 

The average rainfall for the two counties is about twenty-two inches 
each season. For more than tAventy years the average rainfall at ]\larysville 
has been 23.65 inches, while the average rainfall at Yuba City, the county- 
seat of Sutter County, has been 22.38 inches. 

Topography and Soil 

All Sutter County is Sacramento Valley land excepting a portion of the 
northern end of the county, where rise the Sutter Buttes, isolated peaks with 
an altitude of 2,500 feet. 

Yuba County lies aliout one-third in the Sacramento Valley, the rest being 
in the foothills and lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada ^fountains. From the 
low and fertile banks of the Feather River the land rises gradually to an 
altitude of 4,150 feet on the eastern extremity of the county. 

Both counties, in the valley, slope to the southwest about two and a half 
feet per mile. 

The soil of Sutter County is principally alhivial, sandy loam. The Feather 
and Sacramento rivers have built up wide beds of alluvial deposits. While 
the river banks are especially productive of fine fruits, all of Sutter County 
is adapted to fruit, vegetable and grain culture. 

Yuba County has a variety of soils, each high in quality. This adds to 
diversity of opportunity. INIainly there are three types: alluvial; the sandy 
loam of the plains, tinted red with iron, and the rich red earth of the foot- 
hills and lower mountain slopes. 

The productive top soils are deep throughout this region. In many neigh- 
borhoods fifty feet is the average. 

Cost of Land 

The cost of good, ])roductive land in Yu])a-Sutter counties ranges, on 
the whole, from ^^iw to $250 an acre. Tliei'e is some cheai)er, some higher. 
In general, however, prices here are still somewhat lower than elsewhere in 
California, though rising under the stinudus of tlie rapid development due 
to growing realization of the region's attractions and possibilities. 

There are still great areas of undeveloped land. 

Prices, of course, dei)en(l chiefly on location and transportation facilities, 
as well as (|uality. 

Naturally the various types of soils are adapted to dift'erent products. 
Nearly all fruits and vegetables, with jiroper care, can be raised profitably 
in any part of either county. 

Land bargains may be had in either county — of good cjuality at from 
$100 to $150 an acre. 

15 



^."^ ■■■■■f->^yfe ! i-'-a'!iw^i^^;T- -^^ :^•y■"y^!.^:^i'p^iy ^^ %!^^^ 




;Vt€: 




F'livto by McCurry Foto Co. 

Lateral ditch and pumping-station showing an abundance of water 



16 



Irrigation 

Tlif prospoi'ity of Yu])a-Sutter counties is a ccrtaiiily : tlioi-c is an in- 
exhaustible supply (>r gooil water for irrigation, heiu-atli the surfaec as well 
as in the streams and rivei's. 

Ditches draw ou the latter, and pumping j)lants ta{) the sub-surface 
supplies. 

In almost every section of the two counties the well borer will strike 
water twelve feet below the surface, and at forty-five feet a good supply for 
irrigation may be obtained. 

AVell ])oring costs about $1.50 a foot. For pumping, electric power may 
be obtained at reasonable cost in every section of these counties. 

The Feather River, the principal supply for the irrigation ditches, has its 
source in the high Sierras. Its w^atershed em])races 8,350 square miles. The 
Feather is navigable from ]\Iarysville to San Francisco. 

The Yuba River, chief tributary to the Feather, rises in tlie Sierras 
8,000 feet above sea-level and empties into the Feather River at an elevation 
of sixty-seven feet. It has three principal tributaries, the North, Middh^ 
and South Yuba rivers; the North Yuba carries more water than the two 
others combined. 

The rainfall upon the North Yuba watershed summit is more than 
seventy-five inches a year. This has the greatest precipitation for its water- 
shed area of any stream in the State. That means certainty for the farmer 
on the loAv level. 

Records of the Geological Survey shoAV that under normal conditions the 
low^est water flow is 350 cubic feet a second, and during seven months of the 
year the flow exceeds 7,000 feet a second. 

In addition to these and the minor streams, this region has the Bear and 
the Sacramento rivers. The latter, flanking Sutter County on the west, is 
California's largest waterway. 

Of irrigation in the Sacramento Valley, in the heart of w'hich lie Yuba- 
Sutter counties, Professor Elwood Mead of the Department of Agriculture 
and an authority upon this subject, says: 

"The available -water supply of this valley ought to make it the Egyjit 
of the Western Hemisphere." 

While the alluvial soils of both counties are fertile without irrigation, 
the experience of recent years has shown that all crops are ])enefited and 
in many cases doubled in yield, and even more, by the application of water. 

The irrigators of this region have the benefit of decades of experience, 
for water has been used since the days of the first settlers. The ])ioneers in 
the mining districts used the mine ditches to irrigate their holdings, 

AVlien the legislature stopped hydraulic mining, there was left super- 
fluous water and two extensive systems of ditches — 'the South Yuba AVater 
& ]\lining Company's lines over the north side of the Yuba River, and 
the Excelsior Company's south of the same river. 

In 1888, the Browms Valley irrigation district was organized and the 
South Yuba ditches were taken over. 

This district, maintained by public ownership, covers 44,000 acres of 
foothill land, of which 7.000 acres are now irrigated. The cost per acre 
of water from this system is about fifty cents. The Browns Valley system 
has one hundred miles of ditches. 

The Excelsior ditches, maintained as an irrigation system by private 
enterprise, are of approximately the same mileage and water about 7.000 
acres. The cost of irrigating by this system is approximately from $5 to $0 
per acre. 

A newer system is tluit of the TTallwood Irrigation Company, in which 
$40,000 has been expended. The main canal taps the Yu1»a at Daguerre 

17 



1 :.-i 







f ^> 








;l^ 


o 




r/1 












a 


.'•; o 


rt 



f^ Fh 



3 



a 



Point, twelve miles iiorllicast ol" Marysville, wiiere the Government has eon- 
strueted a dam. Tlie irrij^ation company was formed in 11)0!). Its canal 
waters 2,500 acres. 

From 2,500 to 1^,000 acres in Yuba County are watered from wells. 

In Sutter County, the Sutter Hutte Canal, 140 miles long, takes water 
from the Feather River at a point having a minimum flow of 1,300 cubic 
feet a seeond. This will irrigate 200,000 acres in diversified crops, and as 
the system is not designed to serve more than 150,000 acres, the sufficiency 
of Avater is well assured. 

The Sutter Butte Canal has an average depth of seven feet and a width 
of fifty feet. 

The system includes a concrete hcadgate and an auxiliary headgate of 
timber and concrete. The smaller gates, where built of lumber, are being 
replaced with concrete. 

The lands of Sutter County under tlu' canal are particularly well adapted 
to irrigation. Ditches may be built easily and the land is prepared for 
irrigation at a cost of from $3 to $7.50 per acre. 

A system of ditches for seepage and surplus waters provides the necessary 
drainage. 

An important feature of the administration of the canal company is tliat 
the land owners control the distribution of water. The canal company 
maintains the main canal and delivers to the lateral ditches the aggregal(! 
amount of water to be used. Thus local needs are left in the hands of the 
consumers. 

Transportation 

Exceptional land and water transportation facilities put Yuba-Sutter 
counties in close and quick touch with the world and its markets and afford 
convenient freight and passenger traffic. 

It must not be forgotten that, for the shippers of these counties, the 
Panama Canal has virtually shrunk the world by half. 

Southern Pacific lines run through both counties. In addition, the 
Western Pacific, the last transcontinental railroad to penetrate California, 
traverses them. 

]\[arysville is on the main line of the Western Pacific's transcontinental 
line and on the main line of the Southern Pacific's Oregon division. 

This city is given terminal rates by the railroads. This makes it possible 
for the wdiolesalers to maintain a strong hold on the trade of a vast section, 
having the same freight rate as San Francisco on Eastern shipments. 

The Northern Electric Railway runs up from Sacramento. Passenger and 
freight transportation is maintained on an exceptionally good schedule, two- 
and three-car trains running to Sacramento and Oroville and Chico every 
tAvo hours. From Sacramento the Northern Electric passenger can connect 
Avith an electric line to San Francisco, making an additional line. The 
Northern Electric also maintains interurl)an street-ear service betAveen Marys- 
ville and Yuba City, the county-seat of Sutter County. 

Besides the Northern Electric Company's lines, the passenger serA'iee in 
and out of IMarysville is taken care of by nineteen trains daily. In all, there 
are more than forty-five steam and electric trains in and out of Marysville 
every tAventy-four hours. 

Yuba County has 450 miles of good wagon roads; Sutter County, more 
than 800 miles. 

Regular transportation is carried on upon the Feather River betAveen 
San Francisco and Marysville and Yuba City. Tavo fast boats are in service 
during good Avater, Avhich is the greater part of the year. 

In the early gold days, before the era of hydraulic mining, the Feather 
and Yuba rivers were each open for navigation, the former as far north as 

19 














Thompson Seedless grapes on the vine. Picking a grape crop, Yuba County 

20 




Photo by McCurry Foto Co. 

Thompson Seedless, standard raisin grape, vineyard, Sutter County 

Oroville. During the early fifties a number of boats carrying both passengers 
and freight made JMarysville, Yuba City and Oroville regular stopping places, 
but in later years, after the rivers became fouled with debris from the 
immense hydraulic mines, river transportation became difficult and more or 
less dangerous. Both State and Federal governments, however, have ^yorked 
to overcome this condition, and under the supervision of the California 
Debris Commission have spent some $800,000 in river improvement, scouring 
and washing away the debris and building restraining and impounding dams 
above Marysville. The large gold dredging companies gave valuable 
assistance in this work. 

When the work of the Federal and State authorities is completed, river 
navigation will play an important part in the marketing of the vast crops 
from the fields and orchards of Yuba-Sutter counties. ]\Iarysville and 
Yuba City are situated at the confluence of the Feather and Yuba rivers at 
the head of present navigation. 



Horticulture and Agriculture 

Climate and soil, together with an abundance of water, have combined 
to put Yuba-Sutter counties well in the fore among the fruit producing 
districts of California— a State famed throughout the world for its fruit 
production. These counties have practically half of their territory devoted 
to the fruit industries. 

Here is a statement, taking Sutter County aloiu\ of the average tonnage 
of dried fruits produced in that county. The figures were compiled by 
Rosenberg Brothers & Company, fruit dryers, of Yulni City. 

Prunes, 1,500 tons; peaches (dried), 400 tons; pears (dried), 50 tons; 
Thompson Seedless raisins, 4,000 tons; almonds, 350 tons; figs, 250 tons; 
miscellaneous, 100 tons. 

21 




riioto by Met uny foto Co. 

Sun curing Thompson Seedless grapes in drying-yard, Sutter County 

This takes no account of the immense canning consumption, nor fresh 
shipments. 

xVll fruits, citrus as well as deciduous, grow in both counties. Of course, 
certain localities are better adapted to certain fruits, but with proper atten- 
tion almost any section of either county will grow any kind of fruit. 

The orchardists of Yuba-Sutter counties figure roughly on receiving 
$100 an acre a year or more, the returns rise to $350 and $400 in exceptional 
instances. 

In these fertile counties many fruits mature earlier than in other dis- 
tricts, and there are many products of Sutter and Yuba which reach the 
markets weeks ahead of those from other sections. 

Apricots, for instance, ripen unusually early and can be grown in either 
county. The oranges grown here are among the first on the market. So 
with peaches as well, other deciduous fruits, grapes, vegetables — the list 
is long. 

Here are some conservative figures showing the matured acreage of staple 
products required to assure a gross income of $4,000 a year. The estimates, 
under the average rather than those above it, are those of George W. Harney, 
commissioner of horticulture of Yul)a County: 

Eighteen acres of Mission olives; twenty acres of pears; twenty-five of 
peaches; fifty acres of seedless grapes; twelve acres of oranges; thirteen 
acres of hops ; nineteen acres of shipping plums ; twenty-nine acres of French 
prunes; ten acres of cherries; twenty acres of apples. 

The rich soil of the valleys is particularly adapted to peaches, citrus 
fruits, almonds, walnuts, figs, grapes, plums, cereals pnd vegetables. Grain, 
alfalfa and other products do excellently in the red soil of the uplands, which 
is enriched with iron and lime. With irrigation, much the same results maj 
be had in the foothills and on the mountain slopes as in the valleys. 

22 



On river-iuiule gronnrl, oitnis and deciduous fruils, as well as cereals and 
vegetables, liourisli to perfection without ii'rigation in both counties. In 
Yuba County olives grow best in the red soil of the foothills, aiul apples 
come into tlieir own on the mountain slojx's. These require irrigation. 

Thompson Seedless grapes are a famous product of both counties. 

Healthy as is the development of this region, there are opportunities 
which should be shared in by more, especially in fruit production. 

C. A. Rand, manager of a fruit drying plant at Yuba City, said recently : 
*' Sutter County has an oi)ening for fifteen times its present fruit acreage." 
This well miglit be made to include Yul)a County. Development is what is 
needed. 

The wealth of these two counties in horticulture and agriculture is 
exemplified by a few statistics of the fruit and vegetable output, furnished 
by some of the packers and canners. 

The Earl Fruit Company of Sutter County in the 1914 season shipped 
out the following quantities of fresh fruit: 

Seventy-five cars of plums, 2,600,000 pounds; fifty cars of Bartlett pears, 
1,300,000 pounds. 

The Central California Canneries, at Yuba City, packed for export in the 
1914 season the following: 

One hundred thousand cases of peaches, 50,000 cases of tomatoes, 67,000 
cases of asparagus. 

The J. K. Armsby Company, fruit packers, of Marysville, estimated the 
amounts shipped by them in 1913 as follows : 

Prunes, 3,477,344 pounds; peaches, 812,893 pounds; raisins, 2,901,969 
pounds ; apricots, 24,065 pounds. 

This company estimates that the raisin shipment should increase about 
twenty-five per cent, a year for the next three or four years. 

The H. Falk Company, shipper of fresh fruit at Marysville, estimated its 
1914 shipments of green fruit as follows : 

Pears, 90 tons; apples, 250 tons; tomatoes, 1,180 tons; peaches, 150 tons. 

The estimates of crop values and profits offered by the writer are con- 
servative. They are based upon averages carefully prepared from figures 
furnished by ranchers throughout both counties, and canners, packers and 
other experts. These figures have been gathered in various parts of Yuba- 
Sutter counties and from no picked districts. The results of exceptionally 
good land are not given as an average. 

Grapes and Raisins 

The Thompson Seedless, the standard California seedless raisin grape, was 
first produced in Sutter County, and it is the chief viticultural product. This 
county's 1914 vineyard acreage w^as 5,000. The total in Yuba County was 
approximately 900 acres. 

The grape grower here has an advantage in that his grapes, particularly 
the Tokay and the Thompson Seedless, ripen ten days earlier than those of 
his competitors. 

There are vineyards in this region which have returned $300 gross per 
acre year after year. As to an average, George W. Harney, Yuba County 
horticultural commissioner, estimates that fifty acres of seedless grapes 
brought to bearing will bring a gross annualincorae 6f $4,000. 

To the farmer earing only for a small ranch the grape offers rich oppor- 
tunities. He can handle a small acreage alone, and can meet his small 
expenses while waiting for the vines to mature by plaating the spaces be- 
tween the row\s to vegetables and berries. 

In spite of the large acreage, the demand for the seedless grape, fresh 
and as raisins, exceeds the production. 

23 



'■^■^^■seT'»'am*>xsiim^-.&sf^i^^Me&^»~-SiF'^:siSi'j^j£^^^v''~ *. ^ 




bO 



-«i««5«r->s«»', i^'?m&rs^zw,'f(^^'''^''''ii''Sf'Sf'\' • ;>' T 



^■^Wf 




Gg 



Theso grapes are easy to <2:row in Yuba-Sutter counties, and cuttings 
take root easily and quickly. The Yuba or Sutter County vineyardist does 
not know failure. Soil and climate furnish all of the recjuisites. 

The Thompson Seedless matures usually at three years. At that age it 
will net a prolit of $25 an acre. At four years a profit of $75 an acre easily 
can be expected. In tonnage this grape at three years will produce one and 
one-half tons per acre, and from five to seven and one-half tons an acre at 
four years. An average price is $15 to $20 a ton and fi-iMpiently more. 

The vineyardist 's expenses per acre are, roughly, fi-om $10 to $15. 

Other varieties of grapes are worth consideration. More than a score 
are grown with commercial success, the ^Mission and the Zinfandel being 
especially noteworthy. 

W. W. Maekie, soil expert of the Department of Agriculture, after 
analyzing the red soil in Yuba County's foothills, urged it especially for the 
growing of the Tokay. 

A yield of ten tons to the acre with wine or table grapes is not excep- 
tional, and from $15 to $20 a ton is an average i)rice. The wine grape pays 
about $100 to $125 an aci-e. The prices vary from $9 to $12 a ton. 

Peaches 

The peach lias made Sutter County famous. Sutter County, on the otlier 
hand, has made her particular kind of peaches famous. For the peach comes 
into its own in that county. It is the most important of the fruits. In 1014 
there were more than 10,000 acres in Sutter County and close to 800 in Yuba. 

Sutter County peaches bring $10 a ton more than those of other parts of 
California. 

Sutter and Yuba peaches have been proven superior to those of other 
parts of the United States, both for drying and canning. They also are of 
first quality for fresh fruit market. The clings are used chiefly for canning 
and the freestone varieties for drying. 

Along the Feather and the Yuba rivers in Yuba County there lie rich 
lands, to be bought at reasonable prices, prime for peaches. 

With irrigation, the best canning peaches grown in Yuba-Sutter counties 
produce ten tons to the acre. In the last nine years, peaches in both 
(■(•unties brouglit an average of $40 a ton. This means an average gross 
profit of $400 an acre — and peach land in ])oth counties may be purchased at 
from $200 to $250 an acre. 

Peaches begin to bear at three years. At four years the average orchard 
will net a gross pi'ofit of $100 an acre. 

Experinu'nts conducted 1)y the Department of Agriculture sliow that 
irrigation increases the yield of peaches from ten to one hundred per cent., 
induces regularity of bearing and improves the quality of the fruit generally. 
Favoral)le irrigation conditions here, with the other natural advantages, seem 
to corroborate the dejnirtnu'ut's findings. 

One of the choicest varieties of peaches, the Phillips cling, originated in 
Sutter County. This fruit is yellow or lemon colored, large, with firm flesh, 
having abundant sugar, and its small pit is easily extracted. It is equally 
good for canning and fresh table use. The tree is a most prolific bearer. 

The Briggs Red May, one of the earliest peaches known, also had its 
origin in Sutter County. Tuscan Clings are grown in large quantities. 

Plums and Prunes 

Prunes and ])lums. among the ])est-paying fruits here, are grown in 
profusion. 

Commissioner TIarney of Yuba County estimates tliat in 1914 in his 
county there were 260 acres of plums in bearing and 280 acres of prunes in 
bearing. 

27 



; :-r>V'Jft^fe»r^,cT-^Sj'^-.l'''-'a^y).::^lv--:v>*j^^ 



iHHIiliifiK 




^4s 
^ 
M^ 



w> 









\iff^k% 



M^ 






^, 
















-^KKMm^^ :. 



I'hutu by McCiiny foto Co. 

Beau field, Meridian District, Sutter County. Harvesting rice, Yuba County 



28 



The prune is one of the clieapest fruits to produce and tlie tree has 
longer life than even the peach. Under usual conditions it bears at three or 
four years. The crop is certain; there are no failures. Conditions for dry- 
ing are favorahh' in l)()lh counties. 

Ordinary returns on prunes in Yid)a-Sutter counties range from $200 
to $27r) an acre. However, growers often make as much as $400 an acre net 
on prunes. 

Peaxs 

Pears from both foothills and lowlands are of excellent quality. Fresh 
shipments are nuule in large quantities, though a great i)art of the crop is 
used for canning. 

Pears produce from five to ten tons to the acre, giving in general a profit 
of $150 or more per acre. One Yuba County grower has made a profit of 
$375 an acre for the past three years. The same thing is being done in 
Sutter County. 

This fruit brings $80 to $60 a ton. Fifty dollars is not uncommon. 

The Bartlett is the principal variety in Sutter County. 

For quick returns the Bartlett pear ranks next to the peach. Tn this dry 
climate it matures at six years. The alluvial soil of the lowlands seems to 
be especially favorable. An eight-acre orchard near Yuba City produced 
seventy-five tons of pears in 1914. 

In 1914 Yuba County's pears covered 495 acres, and Sutter County's 
'350, besides trees not yet bearing. 

Pigs 

Often giving a net profit of $100 an acre, figs are becoming an important 
product here. 

The cost of caring for an acre of figs averages less than $15 a season 
after the trees mature, which is usually in seven or eight years. ]\lany of 
the vineyardists pay their expenses by growing figs about the edges of their 
vineyards. 

Dry warmth is the most essential factor in the production of figs of high 
quality. The climatic conditions of these counties meet this requirement. 

The Adriatic fig produces on an average of four tons to the acre a season, 
and the price varies from $50 to $60 a ton. The Calimyrna fig is fast com- 
ing into favor. Rosenberg Brothers & Company, who maintain a packing 
house at Yuba City, buy heavily from outside fig growers, although they 
have an orchard of one hundred acres of tlieir own. Tliis concern is said 
to pack more figs than any other single company in America. 

The acreage set out to figs in bearing in Yuba County was 110 in 1914, 
according to figures based upon the assessor's records, while Sutter County 
had 400 acres. 

Cherries 

The iron in the red soil of Yuba County and the richness of the alluvial 
soils of Sutter make them splendid cherry regions. All the principal varie- 
ties are grown in both counties and the profits range from $100 to $350 
an acre. 

Royal Ann cherries are shipped early in June. 

A comparatively small present acreage here assures a good home mai-ket. 
Development is needed. 

Apples 
While apples have not been grown as extensively here as other fruits, 
more ground constantly is being devoted to them. Red hill soil, alluvial, 
and the higher hills all have possibilities. 

29 



^^-^ 




Photo by McCiin-y Foto Co. 

A vigorous growth of coia in the Meridian District, Sutter County 

30 



Yiil)a County in 1914 had 430 acres of apples, and Sutter County 100 
acres. 

The best varieties in the counties are the White and Red Astrachan. 

It is estimated that twenty acres of apples brought to bearing will bring 
in an income of $4,000 a year. 

Olives 

Yuba-Sutter counties are coming to the fore rapidly as olive producers. 
The rich red soil of the valleys and foothills of Yuba County and the plains 
of Sutter County grow this crop with (juantity and liigh (juality for oil as 
well as for pickling. 

Olive orcliards in this part of the State are valued at $1,000 an acre and 
bring au annual net return of fifteen per cent, on that valuation. 

George W. Harney, who is secretary of the Northern California Olive 
Growers' Association, says: "Olive trees propagated from cuttings by 
modern methods and planted on well drained, gentle slopes where furrow 
irrigation is practicable will bear some fruit in four years. The olive is for 
now and for generations to come. There is a vast body of land in the foot- 
hills of the Sierras especially adapted to it. 

"The Agricultural Experiment Station tables state that in order to 
obtain a gross income of $4,000 per year, eighteen acres of olives brought 
to maturity will be required. At the end of seven years the investment or 
value will amount to $16,000, and there will be an assured gross income of 
$4,000 per year. These figures, tentative, include cost of land, trees, water 
right or pumping plant, house, barn, fencing, live stock and implements, and 
cost of bringing the trees into bearing. 

"The grower should start with at least $4,000 cash. 

"These estimates are based on a minimum price of $80, maximum of 
$200, and an average of $150 a ton for the olives ready for pickling. 

"At five years an olive orchard should produce 1,000 pounds of fruit to 
the acre, at seven years 2,000, and at ten years 4,000 and more." 

Nuts 

Almonds and walnuts grow well in these two counties and great quan- 
tities are shipped out each season. 

The almond matures at seven years, but returns come in before that. At 
four or five years, $50 an acre can usually be secured. By six years the 
average almond grove brings in $100 an acre a year, if good care has been 
given to the trees. When the trees come to full bearing the average profit 
exceeds $100 an acre and in many cases is as high as $350. 

Two dollars an acre a season is the estimated cost of maintaining an 
almond grove. Hulling is one of the chief expenses. AYhen done by 
machinery this costs one-half a cent a pound, and one cent a pound when 
done by hand. During the past few years the prevailing price has averaged 
fifteen cents a pound. 

In Yuba County in 1914 there w^ere 135 acres of almond trees in bearing 
and thirty acres of walnuts in bearing, according to careful estimates. In 
Sutter County in the same year there w^ere 1,500 acres of almonds and 100 
acres of walnuts. 

The California Almond Growlers' Exchange estimated the almond tonnage 
produced by Sutter County for the past three years as 640 tons at an aggre- 
gate value of $175,500. 

Citrus Fruits 

Citrus fruits are coming into th^ir own in Yuba-Sutter counties. Oranges 
and lemons groAvn here not only are of high quality but are among the first 
to reach the markets. This northern region beats southern California by 

31 







SH 



w 

n 



t 

1^ 



^^^^PfliPiSilfPlfiili^PllfP^fK^^ 







M 




Hop fields and dry kiln, near Wheatland, Yuba County. Trainloads of dried hops are 

shipped direct to England 

34 



four to six weeks. The oranges here are in marketing condition by 
Thanksgiving, 

With plains, lowlands and foothills especially adapted to citrus fruits, 
these two counties have abundant opportunity for greater development. 
They are destined soon to take their place among the large eitrus belts. 

Kaw eitrus land can be had in eitlicr county as low as $100 an acre. 
Developed, it should be worth at least ten times that. 

The 1914 figures showed 480 acres of bearing oranges and 60 acres of 
lemons in bearing in Yuba County, and in Sutter County fifty acres of 
oranges and ten of lemons. 

Berries 

Berries, thriving, are especially profitable in that they mature early. 
Strawberry growers of Yuba-Sutter counties reach the market two weeks 
ahead of their competitors. This and the other varieties are grown not only 
alone but between the trees in orchards. 

In 1914 there were more than fifty acres laid out to berries in Yuba 
County, and approxinmtely 150 acres in Sutter County. 

Vegetables 

Six and seven hundred dollars per acre profit a year — that is not uncom- 
mon among vegetable growers on alluvial soils here. Bigger returns are 
not infrequent. Not only are returns high, but on much ground the crops 
thrive without irrigation. 

Tomatoes help keep the canneries and packing houses busy. They bring 
in $3,000 gross per acre per year to one Yuba County grower, who irrigates. 

Yuba-Sutter counties have a monopoly of the San Francisco cucumber 
market for the first six weeks of the season on account of early production. 

Asparagus is an important product — the profits range from $150 to $175 
an acre, often going much higher. Celery does as well. 

Beans do excellently and pay on an average of $125 an acre. 

These counties produce a beet that contains more than twenty per cent, 
of sugar. A fair average of the beet production is twenty tons to the acre, 
and the price is about $5 a ton, f. o. b. 

Potatoes also furnish a good source of income. There are 150 acres or 
more in this croD in both counties. 

Hops 

The largest hop fields in the world are in Yuba County. These are 
situated mostly near Wheatland, twelve miles south of ]\Iarysville, and the 
hops are grown along the bottom-land and the banks of the Bear River. 
Hops are also grown to perfection in other sections of both counties. 

The immense hop fields of the Durst Brothers at Wheatland cover 640 
acres. The average yearly yield is 1,800 pounds to the acre. The price of 
hops, which fluctuates, averaged sixteen cents a pound in 1913, and in 1914 
contracts were let at 131/2 and 14 cents a pound. From 1,000 to 1.500 pickers 
are employed each year on the Durst fields during the picking season, which 
lasts for several weeks in the summer. 

The hop fields of the E. Clemens Ilorst Company cover 450 acres. Here 
hop-picking machines are used to some extent, but hand labor is by no 
means done away with. 

The cost of picking is from eighty cents to $1 per one hundred pounds. 
The cost of production is from eight to ten cents a pound. 

Sutter County also produces an excellent type of hops. There are large 
fields at Nicolaus and at the Rideout Ranch, sixteen miles below Yuba City. 
The yield and prices are practically the same as in Yuba County. 

In 1914 there were approximately 250 acres devoted to hops in Sutter 
County, and 1,200 acres in Yuba County. 

35 























f'lioto by McCurry foto Co. 

Sutter County farmers cut alfalfa five tunes each season, averaging IV2 tons per cutting 

36 




Haying scene near Marysville and olive orchard in Yuba County. Olives pay weU 

37 




Dairy cattle and "mortgage lifters," Brown's Valley District, Yuba County 

88 



Rice 

In recent years experiments in these counties, in wliicli the Government 
has participated, have demonstrated the commercial value of rice growing, 
adding a new crop of immense potential value to the already varied 
resources. The acreage is rapidly increasing. 

Ott'ering good profit from markets where the demand is far in excess of 
the supply, rice ])reseiits rich opportunities to the small farmer. 

It is estimated that 1,300 acres of bottom land were laid out to standing 
rice in Yuba County in 1014, besides a good-sized acreage in Sutter (.'ounty. 

Twelve varieties are grown. The crop is planted in April. It is flooded 
in July, and is kept under three inches of water for three months. The gross 
returns from rice in Yuba ('ounty in 1914 will aggregate $100,000. No cereal 
crop has ever given such large returns. 

Hay and Grain 

Although the day of the big grain rancher in California is but a memory 
antl has been superseded by the era of the small farmer, hay and grain are 
grown in goodly quantities in Yuba-Sutter counties and are bringing 
excellent results. 

This region helped much to make California famous for its wheat, in its 
heydey as a grain state. Barley and wheat are the chief cereal crops now. 
Scientific methods and the favorable natural conditions mean profits. 

Grain hay yields from one to two tons to the acre. The average for 
wheat is from ten to twelve sacks, and barley twelve to fifteen. Many 
varieties of corn do well. 

The average expense for grain hay is $4 to $6 an acre for the season. 
Many farmers double their production by planting their fields to potatoes 
or other crops after harvesting. 

Barley brings from $1 to $1.25 a hundredweight. Good grain land may 
be had from $50 to $60 an acre in either county. 

In Yuba County in 1914 the following acreages were devoted to cereals, 
according to assessment records : Wheat, 31,945 acres ; oats, 9,640 ; barley, 
87,345 ; corn, 275 ; hay, 8,194. The Sutter County 1914 acreages were : Hay, 
6,780 acres; barley, 15,641; oats, 5,031; wheat, 9,134. 

Alfalfa 

Alfalfa, a valuable crop in itself, is the secret of the dairyman's success 
here. It brings big profits. j\Iany bottom-land ranchers get yields without 
irrigation which farmers elsewhere in California would consider excellent 
even with the application of water. 

While Yuba and Sutter alfalfa not infrequently gives as many as six 
cuttings a year, the usual number of crops is five, averaging a ton and a 
half to the acre. After the last cutting the ground is available for pasturage. 

The first crop of the season, less pure but heavier than the later ones, is 
usually worth $5 a ton in the shock. The average price for the other cut- 
tings is $8 a ton. 

Baling costs $1.50 to $2 a ton. 

On low, irrigated land some farmers get seven to ten tons to the acre 
yearly, and sell at $10 a ton. 

A typical bottom-land grower near Wheatland has eighty acres in alfalfa. 
ITe does not irrigate. He gets five cuttings of about a ton and a half 
average, the year's total being in the neighborhood of eight tons to the acre. 
That means profits. 

There is a field for development in growing tliis crop for seed. 

In 1914 there were 3,145 acres of standing alfalfa in Yuba County and 
3,386 in Sutter County, according to assessor's records. 

Besides being one of the best soil-builders known, alfalfa yields profits 

39 




Sutter County dairy herd. The dairy output is increasing rapidly 

without delay. Sixty dollars an acre gross the first year is nothing very 
exceptional; $100 the second year no more unusual. As a rule, by the third 
season it is in full swing. 



Dairying 

Unusually favorable conditions and high returns make dairying a big 
industry in these counties. One of the factors in bringing tliis about is 
land — and of this kind there is much — which yields larger crops of alfalfa 
without irrigation than the average soil will produce when irrigated. 

It is signiticant that the dairy output of Yuba-Suttcr counties has 
increased fourfold in the last four years. The butter output is over 250,000 
pounds a year in each county. 

By and large, $8 a month is a conservative figure to give as an average 
return from an ordinary cow. Twelve dolhirs is not unusual from the cream 
alone; there are the minor profits available as well, such as hogs, to say 
nothing of calves. And dairy expenses here are half, or less, what they are 
in the East. 

There is a strong home demand in California for dairy products, and for- 
eign markets are widening for the California producer. 

The industry is still in its infancy here and great opportunities await the 
practical and energetic dairyman, 

"The marked increase of dairying in both counties, especially Sutter, in 
the recent past," says G, R, Gallatin, manager of tlie Yuba City Creamery, 
"has reached an un})recedented rate in the last two years. 

"The cutting up of large ranches, the influx of newcomei-s and tlie 
development of irrigation are among the causes. 

"Moreover, alfalfa and dairying here are not deix'ndcnt ui)on ii-rigation. 
There is much land in tlie two counties adapted to alfalfa without irrigation, 

"The man with the right qualities who goes into the dairy l)usiness here 
at this stage of development is getting in on the ground floor. 

41 




':V^f^i^i^'h'^4':^^jii^^i?^S^,'^^" 



"Twenty acres of good alfalfa will support twenty cows the year round, 
if properly handled. Taking this as a unit, it would be conservative to say 
that the first cost of land and cows, both of the highest class, would be about 
$6,000— though the land can usually be got on terms — and the annual gross 
income $2,500. 

"According to our records the average amount paid for butterfat to the 
owners of the better grade of cows is $10 per cow a month throughout the 
year, and individual cows have produced twice that. 

"As for the permanency of the industry in Yuba-Sutter counties, there is 
not the slightest question. Right now we are making in our plant 1,000 
pounds of butter a day and we might just as well be making 2,000 if we 
could get the cream." 

Good dairy land is confined to no particular section, but is found in the 
plains, the valleys and the foothills. 

Live Stock 

Sheep and cattle are raised in both counties. The Sutter Buttes and the 
Sierra foothills, with their mild climate, oifer splendid inducements, which, 
however, are only partly made use of. There is territory for more use and 
cattle rangers are wanted here. 

The value of all classes of live stock is estimated to exceed one million 
dollars in each county. 

Alfalfa is used as cheap and excellent forage for sheep. IVFore than 
50,000 graze on the Sutter Buttes. One acre of grazing land will keep a sheep 
through the winter, and an acre of tule land will keep him through the 
summer. 

Sheep, sheared twice a year, average a wool production of nine pounds 
a year per head. The price of wool varies from twelve to eighteen cents. 

Sheep for breeding are worth $3.50 to $4; for mutton, $3.50 to $5 

Poultry 

California needs eggs. Fast as the poultry industry is growing in the 
State, ten million dozen eggs — about half the total consumption — are shipped 
into the State annually. 

In these counties the hen is not only favored by climate, but can be made 
profitable as a by-product of orchard or dairy. 

x\s the poultry man raises practically all of his feed, he can expect a big 
yearly profit — $1 or $1.25 is good ; $2 net not uncommon, from each hen. 

A poultry man near Live Oak has 500 hens which gave him on an average 
of 107 eggs in a year per hen. The average price of eggs being twenty-one 
cents, the output of his chicken-yard brought him $936.25. Poultry sold 
brought him $332.75. The total receipts showed a net gain of $707.60. Each 
hen was worth $1.40 net. 

Power and the Industries 

A plentitude of electric power means more than the convenience of 
electric lights and labor-saving devices for town and ranch in Yuba- 
Sutter counties. It means adequate, reasonable and certain service for the 
man who irrigates by pump. It means much, too, in the operation of plants 
that convert his raw products into marketable shape — fruit-packing estab- 
lishments, canneries, flour mills. 

California, one of the world's chief petroleum producers, uses much crude 
oil on its ranches. Besides this resource, however, nearly every portion of 
the farming area of Yuba-Sutter counties has its net-work of power lines. 

From the hills of Yuba County the cities on San Francisco Bay — and 
intermediate points as well — draw much of their electric power. 

43 



i 




ill 


mfm 


if III m 


iC^ 








Two of the immense packing plants at Yuba City, Sutter County, where the fruit crop 

is prepared for market 



44 




try Foto Co. 

Crating and packing fruit in one of the big packing houses, Yuba City, Sutter County 

45 




Largest gold dredge in the world, Yuba River, at Hammonton. Quartz mill gold mine. 

Brown's Valley, Yuba County 



46 



The Pacific Gas & Electric Company liave an inuiicnse plant on the Yuba 
River, at Colgate, Yuba County. The generating,' capacity is 20,000 
horsepower. 

The tlistribnting system of the company is sucii that on any interruption 
of direct service, because of accident, other stations immediately fill the 
emergency demand. 

The Colgate power-house is constructed of rock, concrete and iron. The 
water supply is taken from the river above and brought down in ditches 
and flumes. The ditches are operated uiuler a head of 700 feet. The great 
Colgate dam, eight miles above the power-house, is a wonderful engineering 
work. 

The transmission wires of the Great Western I'ower Company are strung 
over Yuba-Sutter counties on tall steel towers, carrying current to iSau 
Francisco. 

The Yuba Power Plant also is situated near Colgate. 

IMarysville has an industrial and commercial importance far in excess of 
what the Pjastern visitor would expect, judging nu^rcly from the ])()pulation 
figures — significant as those are according to the California standard. 

This is due not only to power service, but transportation facilities l)y 
land and river, and the productiveness of the surrounding I'egion. The in- 
dustrial side of the city is summarized elsewhere in this book. 

The same causes work to the advantage of Sutter County. 

Aside from the industrial units in the latter county, Yuba County's es- 
tablishments, chiefly in Marysville, include a large dredger construction 
works, a brick plant, three wagon factories, two cigar factories, a flour mill, 
four leather goods factories, more than twelve lumber mills, two nuirble 
works, four tin and galvanized iron works, and an ice and bottling works. 

Mining 

Yuba is the third California county in gold production. In 1913 the 
output of gold exceeded $2,500,000. 

This is not without signiflcance to the settler, having a favorable effect 
on the region's prosperity and finances, and, besides, giving right at home a 
market of some importance. 

In the mountainous region there is ample room for hundreds of pros- 
pectors. Those anxious to ojoen genuine quartz mines are welcomed into the 
district and will find good opportunities awaiting them. 

The methods of mining in this county are placer, quartz and dredging. 
The beds of the Yuba River are filled with gold dust, and fifteen huge gold 
dredges, each costing from $160,000 to $225,000, are at work day and night. 

It is estimated that more than $50,000,000 in gold dust already has been 
taken from the beds of the Yuba River. Great quantities of gold quartz are 
mined, but dredging is the more important method. 

The gold dredges have built up two prosperous mining communities: 
Hammonton, where thirteen dredges are operated by the Yuba Consolidated 
Goldfields, and Marigold, where the ]\Iarysville Dredging Company operates 
two. 

While dredging is the newest form of gold mining in California, more 
than one-fourtli of the gold mined in the State now is taken out by this 
process, the greater part of this gold comes from land already once mined. 
The first dredge was put into service fifteen years ago. 

The gold dredge does not work in the stream, but on the shore. The 
practice is to landlock the machine and the mining, therefore, is entirely out- 
side of the channel. The stream is not impaired. The dredge is built in a 
dry pit dug for that purpose. When the hull is finished, water is run into 
the pit by ditch or flume. In this way the dredge in operation floats on 

47 



■water brought to it, and its function is to dig up the soil and gravel of the 
old river bed and wasii out the gold. As the dredge moves forward con- 
tinually, the tailings are left behind after the land has been mined. 

The gold field at Ilammonton is considered the largest gohl mine in the 
v^^orld. The dredges here, working twenty-four hours every day, would re- 
quire fifty years to exhaust the land at the present rate of progress. The 
lands of the Yuba Consolidated Goldfields comprise ;},()0() aci'es. 

Formed less than ten years ago, with a capitalization of $12,500,000 in 
shares of ^5 par value, tliis concern has i)aid $8,000,000 in dividends. 

The work requires much skilled labor and the payroll is little less than 
$500,000 a year. 

On the lower slopes of the Sierras, in Yuba County, are rich quartz 
mines. New ones are now being worked. At Rackerby, thirty miles 
northwest of ]\Iarysville, is the Santa Rosa gold mine, on which steady opera- 
tions will be begun shortly. Work is going on at the Twentieth Century 
mine near the same place. 31any quartz mines are being worked in Browns 
Valley. Among the most important mines in this part of the county is the 
]\lcllon. Pocket hunters have taken thousands of dollars from such mines. 
The Solomon Wonder, near Brownsville, has produced $100,000. 

Lumber 

The slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Yuba County are heavily 
timbered and a number of lumber mills operate. Yellow pine and sugar 
pine, spruce, cedar, oak and other woods are found in large quantities. 

The abundance of timber and its proximity to the towns of the counties, 
favorable to reasonable prices, is an incentive to building. 

Leal's sawmill at Brownsville, in Yuba County, thirty-five miles northeast 
of IMarysville, is one of the larger plants. It turns out from 10,000 to 12.000 
feet of high-class lumber a day. 

It is estimated that the sawmills of the county produce annually about 
3,000.000 feet. Including fuel wood and posts, the yearly value of forest 
products reaches close to $1 000,000. 

Fish and Wild Game 

Yuba-Sutter counties abound in wild game and fish. 

In the Feather River salmon and trout are plentiful, while mountain trout 
are found in the streams and brooks of the foothills. 

In the buttes of Sutter County and the foothills of the Sierras in Yuba 
County, rabbits, deer, quail and doves are plentiful. From surrounding 
cities come hundreds of sportsmen each season. Wild ducks and geese 
abound in the rivers. 

There are several gun clubs. 

Finances 

The wealth of the four banks in Yuba Countv and of the three ^anks in 
Sutter County reflects the general prosperity. 

In the fall of 1914, de])osits in the Yuba County banks aggregated nearly 
$4,000,000; those of Sutter County, nearly $750,000. 

Here are statements pul)lished June 30, lf)14. 

The Rideout Bank at Marysville, Yuba County, and branch at Live Oak, 
Sutter County: aggregate resources (both banks) and savings and commer- 
cial accounts combined, .$2,248,301.72; capital stock i)ai(l in. $250,000. 

The Farmers' Bank of Wheatland, Wheatland, Yuba County: resources. 
$200,403.79; capital paid in, .$38,400. 

The Decker, Jewett & Co. Bank. Marysville: resources, $728,725.68; capi- 
tal, $150,000. 

49 




The public buildings of Sutter County are thoroughly modern and attractive 



50 



Tlie Xoitlicrn California Bank of Savings, Marysvillc: resource's, H'2,0r)i),- 
758.;U; capital, sf^l ;?(),()(){). 

The First Natioiiiil IJ.-iiik ol" Yuba Cily: resources, ;|^:',()!),r)84.87 ; ca|.ital, 
.1^r)0,( )()(). 

The Savings Jiank of Sutter County, Yuba City: resources, $;}'J1,387.87 ; 
capital, $25,000. 

Schools 

The maintenance of modern scliool departments in botli counties is note- 
worthy for the prospective settler. 

Yul)a County, Avith Jennie Malalley, superintendent, has forty-two schools 
with seventy teachers and 1,248 i)upils. 

An entire hh)ck in MarysviUe is devoted to the new high and graminar 
schools, the former costing $GU,UOO and the latter $48,000. The grammar 
school average attendance is 470, and the high school 185. 

Elizabeth Vagedes, Sutter County's superintendent, says that during the 
school year ending June, 1914, the thirty-four grammar schools gained nearly 
ten per cent, in attendance. There is, besides, the high school at Sutter 
City. Twenty per cent, of the buildings have been built during the last four 
years — an indication of growth. Four new buildings were planned in the 
fall of 1914. 

There are private schools as well. Of these the most important is the 
College of Notre Dame, conducted in INIarysville by the sisters of Notre 
Dame. This is considered one of the leading educational institutions of 
California. It was founded in 1856 and incorporated by the legislature 
in 1869. 

The buildings and grounds of the college occupy an entire block. The 
college department contains a library, chemistry and physics laboratory, 
lecture hall, class rooms and music rooms. The Saint Cecilia Music Hall 
forms a suite of fourteen pleasant rooms where the pupils practice under the 
supervision of competent teachers. 

While the school is Catholic, pupils of other denominations are received 
provided they conform exteriorly to all regulations of the boarding school. 

Yuba County Communities 
Marysville 

Marysville, chief city of both Yuba-Sutter counties, is called "The 
Hub of the Sacramento Valley." It is known as "The biggest little city on 
the Coast," and its population is increasing at the rate of forty-seven per 
cent, for the census period, to say nothing of the commercial gains brought 
about by the rapid settlement and development of the surrounding territory. 
Those are points worth remembering. 

Situated at the confluence of the Yuba and Feather rivers, it is an up-to- 
date and attractive city of 6,700 population (1914), trade center of a region 
including parts of Butte, Colusa and Nevada counties as well as Sutter and 
Yuba. It has a picturesque history reaching back to '40, and a future of 
immense promise. Few American cities of the size are richer. 

Marysville, founded in 1849, was first called Yubaville. This name was 
changed in honor of j\Irs. Mary Covillaud, the first white woman in the 
community. 

The city quickly became the distributing point for a large mining terri- 
tory: it was the base of thirty-six stage lines, as well as several steamship 
lines to San Francisco. In a single year, early in the fifties, $12,000,000 
of pure gold was shipped out by a single firm of gold buyers. 

Then came the cattle period and the wheat era, bringing new wealth, and 
finally the present stage of fruit, dairying and intensive farming. Through 
all, Marysville has added to its prestige. 

51 




rUoto by McCurry Foto Co. 

Handsome Sutter City school and a tree-bordered driveway in Sutter County 



52 




Lincoln School, type of the modern grammar school, and a Sutter County driveway 

63 




The commodious new high school and Notre Dame College, Marysville, Yuba County 

54 



A manufacturing town of no little importance and a retail center, beauti- 
fied by public ])arks and tree-lined avenues, Marysville today is one of the 
most beautiful of the smaller cities of California. 

Because of its geographical position iMarysville is steadily adding to its 
importance as a railroad center. It is on the main lines of the Southern 
Pacific and the Western Tacilic railroads. Two branches of the Southern 
Pacific, to Oroville and to Woodland, start from here. It has its water trans- 
portation and its electric lines spreading far over the State, including those 
of the Northern Electric Railroad, and interurban line runs to Yuba City. 

Marysville has broad streets, well paved and sliaded ; modern stores, two 
daily papers, a $75,000 public library, seven churches, six schools. There are 
two wholesale grocery houses, three banks, eight dry-goods stores, a 
brewery, two bottling works, a planing mill, lumber yards, and a wool- 
scouring plant. Here the Sperry Flour Company has large mills, and there 
are the fruit plants of the California Fruit Canners' Association and the 
J. K. Armsby Company. 

The fire department has a modern alarm system. Artesian wells within 
the city furnish an abundance of good water and the IMarysville AVater Com- 
pany is constantly extending its system. The IMarysville postoffice, in charge 
of Thomas F. Fogarty, postmaster, furnishes excellent mail service to IMarys- 
ville and its environs. From 4,000 to 5,000 pounds of parcel-post mail are 
handled daily. 

There are seven public parks, besides Ellis Lake, covering sixty acres, 
and Knight Park, containing eighty acres. More than fifteen miles of sewers 
assure perfect sanitation. There also are gas service, telephone service, and 
all the other conveniences. 

The public library, one of the handsomest of Marysville 's newer buildings, 
was presented to the city by the late John Q. Packard. It holds now more 
than 10.000 volumes; 100 magazines are received monthly. 

The principal fraternal orders have branches in Marysville. The Elks' 
Building cost $85,000; the Odd Fellows have a building, recently remodeled. 
IMasonic Hall cost $100,000; Foresters Hall $65,000. 

There are several theatres. One, completed recently, cost $50,000 and 
seats 1,200. 

The progress of the city and the surrounding region is furthered by a pro- 
gressive Chamber of Commerce, which is striving untiringly for the advance- 
ment and development of the entire district. 

Among the largest manufacturing concerns of Marysville is the Yuba 
Construction Company. Here huge gold dredges are built — not only for 
Yuba County's mining companies, but for others in California and Siberia, 
South America, Alaska, Idaho and Oregon. This company's payroll, tlie 
largest in IMarysville, is $150,000 a year. 

The important plants are a large creamery and the Empire Foundry, 
which makes hydraulic apparatus. 

The Yuba River, which Hows through the southern end of Marysville, is 
spanned by a new bridge connecting D Street, IMarysville 's principal thor- 
oughfare, with a long stretch of level bituminized State highway, toward 
Wheatland. 

This bridge will soon be replaced by a more modeni and expensive one, 
built by Yul)a County. The construction of this bridge began in August, 
1914. It will cost $140,000, being built of steel and concrete. The plans call 
for 10,650 barrels of cement, 19.500 linear feet of concrete piling, 7,100 cubic 
yards of concrete in the liridge itself, and 820,000 pounds of reinforced steel. 

The bridge will be 2,055 feet long, with a twenty-four-foot roadway and 
four-foot sidewalks on either side, illuminated by forty-four electroliers, each 
having three lamps. The spans will measure fifty feet. 




Photo by McCurry Foto Co. 

Wheatland, Hammonton and Arboga, Yuba County, have excellent school buildings 



5fi 




Photo by McCurry Foto Co. 

High schools at Yuba City and Live Oak. Sutter County has excellent school faculties 

Wheatland. 

Wheatland, twelve miles south of IMarysville, is the second town of the 
county. It is near the Bear River and 129 miles from San Francisco on the 
Southern Pacific. This is the largest hop producing center in the world. 
During the picking season hundreds of men, women and children are em- 
ployed. The disbursement in wages exceeds .^100,000. 

There is a splendid school, having both grammer and high grades, stand- 
ing in the pu])lic park. Wheatland owns its water supply. There are a 
newspaper and a bank, several hotels, churches, and a new opera house. 
Drained streets and an electric lighting system are other important assets. 
The town has an enterprising Chamber of Commerce. 

Other Towns 

Brown's Valley, in the foothills twelve miles northeast of Marysville, is 
in the center of a district comprising 45,000 acres of fertile irrigated land, 

57 




Photo by McCurry Foto Co. 

There are thirty-four grammar school buildings in Sutter County 



58 




In 1911 the Sutter County schools gained ten per cent, in attendance 



59 




Photo by McCurry Foto Co. 

Church at Wheatland, Presbyterian Church, Marysville, St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 

Marysville, Yuba County 

60 




rirst Methodist Church, Marysville; church at Arboga; St. Joseph's Episcopal Church, 

Marysville 

61 








Photo by McCurry Foto Co. 

Street scenes in the mountain towns of Woodleaf and Camptonville, Yuba County 



62 



PD 1<^* 



all accessible ])y good roads. All kinds of fruits and berries grow here in 
profusion as well as alfalfa, cereals, grapes and nuts. Here is a splendid 
opportunity for the small farmer. The town of Brown's Valley has several 
hundred inhabitants, with schools, churehes, hotels, and mercantile houses. 

The district is also a rich quartz mining center. Among the important 
mines are the Smithurst, Flag, Bessie, iSweet Vengeance, Old Hawk Eyv, and 
Northern Light. 

Smartsville, east of i^rown's Valley and eighteen miles from ]\Iarysville, 
is ehietiy a mining town, on the Yuba Kiver, with an altitude of li'A) feet. 
The district of late has become noted for its fruit, especially oranges. There 
are a number of large placer mines, and millions still remain to be taken 
out. The new Blue Point mining claims, on the Yuba River near Smartsville, 
consist of 130 acres of gi-avel, 2,500 feet of tunnel, twenty-eight miles of 
ditch and a capacity of 2,000 miner's inches of water. .More than $8,000,000 
has been produced in thirty-five years. 

Camptonville, fifty miles from ]\larysville, with an altitude of 2,388 feet, 
is a stock raising and mining center. Near this place is the Ramm Ranch, 
where it is boasted the finest grapes in the United States are grown. Apples, 
peaches and pears, as well as citrus fruits, also are produced here. The out- 
put of this section is transported into IMarysville by teams. 

Fishing and game are abundant in Strawberry Valley, in the extreme 
northern part of Yuba County. This was a great gold center in the early 
days. Challenge is similar to Camptonville. Dobbins is a trading point and 
Brownsville a small community with a rich lumber camp. AVoodville also 
is in the lumber region. 

ITammonton, one of the newer communities, is known throughout Yuba 
County as "Spotless Town." Here are located the dredges of the Yuba Con- 
solidated Goldfields. Hammonton is twelve miles east of Marysville. 

iMarigold, ten miles east of Marysville, is also a gold town, with the 
dredges of the IMarysville Dredging Company. 

Bullards Bar is on the North Yuba River, forty-one miles from Marysville. 
Mining is still carried on to some extent. 

Sutter County Communities 
Yuba City. 

Yuba City, county-seat and largest town of Sutter County, is a thor- 
oughly up-to-date community, with a population exceeding 1,600 in 1914. 
Situated on the Feather River at the head of navigation, the city occupies 
an important commercial position. 

Laid out in 1849 and incorporated in 1908, this is a modern little city 
with all of the conveniences. Its homes are electric lighted. There is a 
$30,000 high-pressure water system. The Southern Pacific and Northern 
Electric railroads serve Yuba City, and an electric fifteen-minute service 
runs to Marysville, which lies across the river. 

This county is of industrial as well as agricultural importance. 

The plant of the Yuba City IMilling Company has a capacity of 200 
barrels of flour and forty-five tons of feed a day. 

The fruit-packing plant of Rosenberg Brothers & Company is here, as is 
the cannery of the Central California Canneries Company, employing 350 
people. The establishment of J. B. AVilkie & Company dries 1,500 tons of 
grapes and 2,500 tons of prunes a year. 

One of the Yuba City canneries shipped 100,000 cases of peaches in 1913 
and a larger quantity in 1914. The same cannery sent out 50,000 cases of 
canned tomatoes in 1913, while the 1914 output was greatly in excess. 

Yuba City has a national and savings bank, a modern hotel, a flour mill, 
a lumber yard, several churches, a fine public school building, a creamery, 
and many prosperous mercantile establishments. 



The Court House and Hall of Records are surrounded by a beautiful park, 
facing which is Mission Hall, a county auditorium used for conventions and 
meetings. Masonic Hall is an admirable structure, and the Odd Fellows and 
the Woodmen of the World also have halls. 

Yuba City is noted for its beautiful homes, surrounded by large gardens, 
and the wide streets, shaded with orange, magnolia, olive and walnut trees, 
form avenues leading out into the great Feather River fruit district. 

Meridian. 

Meridian is a growing town on the Sacramento River, in the western part 
of the county. The Northern Electric railroad passes through it, with 
eighteen trains each day. Dairying and fruit growing are its principal in- 
dustries. Adjoining this town are 20,000 acres, reclaimed by levees, known 
as District No. 70. Here sugar beets, alfalfa, corn, beans, melons and other 
products grow in profusion. The town has excellent school facilities, 
churches, and a prosperous business section. 

Live Oak. 

Live Oak, on the Southern Pacific and Northern Electric railroads, is a 
prosperous community, having electric lights and power, an up-to-date busi- 
ness district and schools. A branch of the Rideout Bank is located here. 

The town is the center of a rich district, but here, as in every other part 
of the county, there is opportunity for greater development. 

Sutter City. 

Located at the base of the Sutter Buttes, Sutter City has an ideal situa- 
tion. Fruit growing is one of its principal industries. The town has beauti- 
ful homes and wide streets. Almonds are a specialty in the contiguous 
district. 

Eighteen Northern Electric trains run through this community daily. 
Besides a grammar and a high school, there are churches, a hotel, a public 
hall and a growing business section. 

Nicolaus. 

Nicolaus, on the Feather River, is the shipping point for the southeastern 
part of the county and center of a large and wealthy district devoted to 
dairying and fruit. Cheese factories operate here. A large area is devoted 
to hops. 

Pennington. 

The great almond growing district of the county has Pennington for its 
center. The town is north of the Sutter Buttes and around it is rich terri- 
tory awaiting development. 

Other Towns. 

Vernon is a dairy and farming center, at the junction of the Feather and 
Sacramento rivers. 

Tudor, on the Soiithern Pacific, south of Yuba City, has a large grain 
and dairy territory which affords great opportunities for development. 

Sunset, northeast of Yuba City, is increasing in importance. 

West Butte, on the west side of the buttes, is the center of a grain and 
dairy district. Kirksville is a shipping point. Bogue is a station on the 
Southern Pacific in the heart of the peach belt. Oswald also is a station in 
the peach territory, and Abbott, Marcuse and Lomo are growing shipping 
points on the Southern Pacific. Tierra Buena, Nuestro, Encinal, Rio Oso, 
Catlett and Sankey are similar points on the Northern Electric line. 

Chandler is on the Southern Pacific. Not far from it a large acreage is 
being reclaimed. 

Pleasant Grove is the center of an extensive grain growing district near 
the Western Pacific. 

64 



■■ 




iV' 


'f 


^B^^ 


^^^^Ir 


/I'' 




H 


^I^^^hH^ 'H' 


f . 




1 


^^^l^^"^'" ' 




( 


B 


^^' '■ 




1 


■ 


»-,>:^| • 




! 


1 


^^m 






■ 


M^'^ 






1 




t^ 






1 


4 


^^'^ 







.2 a 




4 O 





















<. 






^^' 










o 






■i O - . . s ^ 

o V 

"^ c ° " 

' ' •- o^ j,'^ .^ v: % > 



































-r^. 






^^•0 





■%- 


''■'/\ 


%.^' ■ 




«J^ 




,0^ • *• 




C^ ' ■ 


.; . O 






■ ^ .V ■^_ .-^^ 






o 



\ V * r -'* 








, ? 




■;/ 


V 




0^ 


• ■' 


"•^ 


/ 


^x. 


o 
















, DOBBS BROS. V>> In \ Z 

ul V "^fr ^ . ^V ^>^ _ . , V^ ^ 



ST. AUGUSTINE " ° " ° ' . ^^ ^0^ <• ^ " - O, .A c V" " - <^. ,0^ 'O 

,^^m, ''LA. T^ 4 . ^ A 



